Should I defer admission?

[mk187]

I am a California resident who got accepted into a university in Illinois starting this August.

Out of state tuition, to my understanding, will come out to be about 120,000 for me. If I estimate 1200 for living expenses, for 3 years I will need 163,000....

I am not fond of being in such a great amount of debt, especially since I am debt free now. And advice was given to me that I shouldnt be in debt greater than the salary of my first year out of school, so maybe 70k? In this case I would be 80k OVER the recommended about of debt. This does not make me feel very good.

On the school website, I noticed I could defer admission for one year. If I did so, I was thinking of moving to Illinois anyway and working full time to gain money and be able to claim residency for next year.
Tuition in-state would be approximately $78,000 then. Plus my cost of living, ~43,000. This would be a difference in 41,800 initially. If I repay my loans in 8 years, this 41k would accrue about 12,000. So I would be saving approximately 53,000 not including inflation.

Does this seem like a good idea to those who are financially literate?
Looking for opinions...because the bigger the debt grows, the more interest I'd have to pay, and its just a huge cycle of debt. BTW, in-state tuition for CA DPT programs are all over IS tuition for Illinois. I do not live close enough to any DPT schools to commute and live at home either, so I will have to pay for room and board regardless. Thanks guys!

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[Rgvmed]

I am a California resident who got accepted into a university in Illinois starting this August.

Out of state tuition, to my understanding, will come out to be about 120,000 for me. If I estimate 1200 for living expenses, for 3 years I will need 163,000....

I am not fond of being in such a great amount of debt, especially since I am debt free now. And advice was given to me that I shouldnt be in debt greater than the salary of my first year out of school, so maybe 70k? In this case I would be 80k OVER the recommended about of debt. This does not make me feel very good.

On the school website, I noticed I could defer admission for one year. If I did so, I was thinking of moving to Illinois anyway and working full time to gain money and be able to claim residency for next year.
Tuition in-state would be approximately $78,000 then. Plus my cost of living, ~43,000. This would be a difference in 41,800 initially. If I repay my loans in 8 years, this 41k would accrue about 12,000. So I would be saving approximately 53,000 not including inflation.

Does this seem like a good idea to those who are financially literate?
Looking for opinions...because the bigger the debt grows, the more interest I'd have to pay, and its just a huge cycle of debt. BTW, in-state tuition for CA DPT programs are all over IS tuition for Illinois. I do not live close enough to any DPT schools to commute and live at home either, so I will have to pay for room and board regardless. Thanks guys!

Well, it's not a bad idea. Personally, I still think 78k is too high for a DPT (again, my opinion). I gave up my seat in 2015 for a 60k instate tuition package + COL, and am now returning to the idea of pursuing an instate program in my new state of residence, Texas. IMO, if you want to be a PT badly ... move to Texas and go to a 35k program. If you got in once, you can get in again!

 

[mk187]

Well, it's not a bad idea. Personally, I still think 78k is too high for a DPT (again, my opinion). I gave up my seat in 2015 for a 60k instate tuition package + COL, and am now returning to the idea of pursuing an instate program in my new state of residence, Texas. IMO, if you want to be a PT badly ... move to Texas and go to a 35k program. If you got in once, you can get in again!

78k is the cheapest program I've seen in my research basically....ive never heard of a program being less than 60,000 for 3 years.... what schools are you talking about?

 

[Rgvmed]

78k is the cheapest program I've seen in my research basically....ive never heard of a program being less than 60,000 for 3 years.... what schools are you talking about?

The Texas schools are almost all extremely cheap. This is for in-state, hence my suggestion to move to Texas. Also, some of these schools like Angelo State and TWU have offered in-state waivers to out of-out-state students in the past. ASU use to offer in-state if you had a 320 GRE score, not sure if they still do.

 

[mk187]

The Texas schools are almost all extremely cheap. This is for in-state, hence my suggestion to move to Texas. Also, some of these schools like Angelo State and TWU have offered in-state waivers to out of-out-state students in the past. ASU use to offer in-state if you had a 320 GRE score, not sure if they still do.

.................i cant believe I'm learning about this now........would it be insane to stop my whole application process move to somewhere in texas for a year then start dpt, hoping i get accepted and what not? I mean I could be paying 780/month, or 1,900 a month for 10 years...... why wouldnt I do this...

 

[Rgvmed]

.................i cant believe I'm learning about this now........would it be insane to stop my whole application process move to somewhere in texas for a year then start dpt, hoping i get accepted and what not? I mean I could be paying 780/month, or 1,900 a month for 10 years...... why wouldnt I do this...

You already mentioned moving to Illinois, what's the difference? The difference is that you will need to reapply again, but be honest, was it really that hard the first time? I didn't think so, personally! Cutting your costs by 40k is something to should consider. What we aren't talking about here is the opportunity cost of not working for a year. Think about things thoroughly, only you can decide. Happy to help.

 

[DPTTELl]

Most PT schools have an average of 60-70k tuition rates. Those schools that charge less than that are extremely competitive schools and they have many applicants every year. I heard TX is one of the states with the most applications. You could do that and risk not getting into a TX school or a school at all and then you will be losing a year maybe even two of earning a PT salary. Also if you are willing to be flexible you could earn way more than just 70k starting out as a travel PT if you choose asigments in rural areas.
I spoke to different recruiters and they all told me they had contracts for new grads that range from $1700 to $1999 per week take home salary. Of course those who make that much are not living in L.A, NYC or DC.

 

[mk187]

Most PT schools have an average of 60-70k tuition rates. Those schools that charge less than that are extremely competitive schools and they have many applicants every year. I heard TX is one of the states with the most applications. You could do that and risk not getting into a TX school or a school at all and then you will be losing a year maybe even two of earning a PT salary. Also if you are willing to be flexible you could earn way more than just 70k starting out as a travel PT if you choose asigments in rural areas.
I spoke to different recruiters and they all told me they had contracts for new grads that range from $1700 to $1999 per week take home salary. Of course those who make that much are not living in L.A, NYC or DC.

Yes you are also absolutely right... although I saw ASU has 300 applicants a year for 26 spots. The acceptance rate is quite the same as other schools I applied to and got in, but nothing is guaranteed and I know that. I also am not particularly crazy about living in Texas, nor about reapplying mostly due to asking my LOR to do work again and contacting everyone who may have changed email addresses, settings, etc..

I could also ask my school to defer admission (I see it says on their webpage you can do so) and then pay IS tuition 78k after 1 year of living there.... the thing is I need to find something to do for 1 year that will make me satisfied for choosing to delay my career a year, you know what I mean? I want to do something towards my goals, yet I need to work FT to be able to pay rent in Illinois too. (although I love PT, being a FT PT Aide does not sound appealing to me in the slightest.)

BTW I REALLY appreciate your feedback. Everyone on this forum, because people in my day to day life have no idea to my situation and their advice is very unthoughtful "do what you want to do!" as if everything were so simple..Our discussion does not get very far.

--I want to start my DPT career now. However, if it's possible to save ~1000 a month for 10 years, or if its possible to pay back my loans in 3 years instead of 10, then I have to be patient and wait a year for the better option in the long run. The thought of paying 120k in tuition when I could be paying 70k (or even 40k) makes me very angry and makes me feel like I am too inpatient to understand the best financial choice. Any more input/opinions would be really appreciated!

 

[DPTTELl]

If you could wait and know for sure you’ll have a spot open next year then do that. If you have to re-apply then remember you have to go through the whole process over again. I spent about $2000 applying to schools last year in between taking the GRE twice, paying for applications and traveling to interviews.
Unfortunately I didn’t get into any in state schools and I am 30 years old changing careers, so I don’t want to delay this process any longer and that’s why I decided to go to an out of state school. Yes! It is expensive and the thought of acquiring so much debt gives me anxiety, but I also know it’s possible to be debt free if you’re organized and willing to go where the money is.